BRANDON BOYD
opinion editor
If you have browsed Face
book within the past week, it
is likely that you have seen
statuses such as "I like it on
the chair" or "I like it on the
floor."
No, the people posting these
statuses are not revealing inti
mate details about their per
sonal lives: it is part of a new
Facebook status trend that
women are partaking in to
raise breast cancer aware
ness.
And yes, it is supposed to be
sexually suggestive. The point
of the statuses are to grab the
attention of Facebook users
during the month.
However, I cannot help but
to think that the statuses are
grabbing attention for all the
wrong reasons. Yes, I find
them funny, but I would not
associate them with breast
cancer at first glance. Any at
tention is good attention, I
guess.
Having lots of friends" is great
BRANDON BOYD
opinion editor
As of this writing, I cur
rently have 367 Facebook
friends. Those of you reading
may have more -- I've seen
people with several thousand
friends.
The term "friend" is one I
use loosely. I probably talk to
maybe 50 of my friends on a
regular basis. Probably even
less, honestly.
Most of the others are either
acquaintances or people I've
met once or twice.
There are also the group of
athletes I send friend requests
to. Current Penn State players
that I am "friends" with in
clude Chaz Powell, Derek
Success of Moss trade contingent on Favre
BRANDON BOYD
opinion editor
Randy Moss is back in Min
nesota after five years.
As Joe Biden might whisper
into Barack Obama's ear:
"This is a big fucking deal."
The trade for Moss has put
new life into the Super Bowl
hopes of the Minnesota
Vikings. The Vikings are cur
rently 1-2, coming off of their
early bye week. Their quarter
back, Brett Favre, was playing
as well as his age would sug
gest he would, and quite hon
estly, the team lacked heart.
Enter the stint (or maybe
quadruple bypass) that is
Randy Moss.
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I like it on the newspaper
ATlNdilipg si;)
Let me say that I support
the statuses -- they are humor
ous and any support for
breast cancer awareness is
good by me. Still, there has to
be a better way of doing it.
It might not be as flashy, but
a simple "I support breast
cancer awareness" would
work. It likely would not grab
as much attention as "I like it
on the stairs," but it gets to the
point and lets the status
reader know what they sup
port.
Then again, maybe I am
taking it too seriously. After
all, it is Facebook.
Since we have breast cancer
awareness statuses, I am
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE NAT
VOU HAVE 203 FAGEBooK
FRIENDS AND HAVE NO
FRIENDS IN REAL LIFQ
MMI
~~
r
Moye, Graham Zug, Stephfon
Green, and Curtis Dukes. I am
also friends with former Penn
State players
Lavar Arrington,
Jared Odrick,
and Andrew
Quarless. Cur
rent NFL play
ers I am friends
with: Darrelle
Revis, Donte
Whitner, Jairus
Byrd, Jacoby
Jones, LaMarr
Woodley, Nate
Byham and Scott McKillop
This is not to brag - these
people would not know who I
was if I spotted them my first
name and my hometown.
However, it does show the
"I think this is going to be a
fun ride," Moss told ESPN.
"I'm very fortunate to be back
home where it all started."
While Moss may be glad to
be back where it all started,
Minnesota's Super Bowl
dreams start and end with the
man in the number four jer
sey.
Thus far, the play of Favre
has been abysmal. His quar
terback rating is just 20 better
than his age. He has thrown
just two touchdowns, com
pared to six interceptions.
To be fair, the talent of the
Vikings wide receivers is not
the greatest. While Percy
Harvin is talented, he was
hampered by migraines in the
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thinking we could expand it.
A lot of women (and yes,
some men) die of breast can
cer, but there are other ill
nesses that people die of too.
We seem to have more ill
nesses and diseases than col
ors - we should devote a status
once a month to a cause we
support.
If they're humorous, great.
The "I like it..." statuses have
helped breast cancer aware
ness gain attention during this
month. With a clever status,
we could see a rise in atten
tion for diseases such as
Autism, Chron's, Macular De
generation, and more.
What we're on now, though,
beauty of Facebook - being
able to connect with those
who you would never other
wise have the
chance to.
I don't creep
on these ath
letes by
checking
their every
status and
post. I do like
saying that I
am "friends"
with them,
even though
saying so is a little misleading.
It's also a nice little ego
boost to say that you have 367
friends. Maybe it's not true;
maybe you never talk to any
one in real life. On Facebook,
pre-season, and makes for a
better second or third receiver
than a first. Sidney Rice, their
normal number one receiver,
is out with a hip injury. The
Vikings' other receivers,
Bernard Berrian and Greg Ca
marillo, do not exactly inspire
fear into the opposing second
ary.
With the new acquisition of
Moss, there is no excuse for
Favre. He has a top target
who, although on the tail-end
of his career, is still very, very
good. Tom Brady got to the
Super Bowl with him just a
few years ago - he can make
the difference on a team.
And that's why the Super
Bowl hopes of the Vikings
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is breast cancer. One thing be
sides the "I like it" statuses
that I really like is when peo
ple make their profile's pink,
or post a pink ribbon to their
wall.
Still, as I've said, the joke
has been successful. It has
brought an awareness to
breast cancer in a way that the
Susan G. Komen Breast Can
cer Foundation probably
couldn't. It's reaching the
youth on a social media dom
inated by them. Though they
will likely not be affected by
the disease for quite a long
time (hopefully never), it cre
ates awareness for younger
generations.
OC I PAOMI
CA*)(irxrs c ,t,,;
vi ,
•
it doesn't matter.
In fact, on Facebook, it
seems like the most talkative
people are those who are
quiet in real life.
My advice might be horri
ble, but I'm going to say it
anyway: friend as many peo
ple as you can. No, don't go
searching the phonebook for
people to friend. But if you
know 'em, add 'em.
As the title says, having a lot
of Facebook friends is great. It
gives you a lot of posts to
read, games to play, and time
to waste.
Feel free to add me as a
friend too.
After all, the more friends
the better, right?
rests on Old Man Favre. If he
plays well and distributes the
ball to his receivers, they can
go far.
If he continues to play how
he is, the team will blow up:
Moss will fight with the coach,
with Favre, and the whole
team will take an even bigger
nosedive. There is no "C"
grade for this trade: it's an "A"
if they win the Super Bowl, an
"F" for any other outcome.
I would expect to see Favre
turn it around, and if he does,
there is a decent chance you
will see the purple and yellow
holding up silver at the end of
the year.
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New technology
I can tell you right now:
there is not a moment in my
day when I or anyone else has
not used some form of tech
nology, whether it be a laptop,
a cell phone, a camera, an
iPod, etc.
Our generation is immersed
in a society where we depend
on something that can do
things for us electronically.
We have portable cameras
which digitally record videos
and pictures that can be up
loaded and saved onto com
puters in a matter of minutes,
and now cell phones can do
the exact same thing!
Our laptops have built-in
cameras that allow us to take
pictures and video chat with
friends and family. They auto
matically update themselves
with what they need, and they
inform you if there is some
thing wrong with it. Even the
new iTouch is pretty much the
same thing as an iPhone, and
it has two cameras on it.
Have you noticed that what
we want is never enough? We
always want something
newer, cooler, and faster and
it never lasts more than
maybe a few months at most?
I mean, obviously one camera
was not enough for a phone,
talking to a person without
seeing their face for a few
minutes is not acceptable.
Also, having to wait until you
can reach a computer to find
out that your friend publicly
announced via FB status that
The future of radio
ASHLEA INNISS
stall writer
The podcast is the greatest
thing in entertainment since
the iPod and if for the rest of
my life I had to live with only
one source of entertainment, I
would choose podcasts.
For those of you who don't
know what a podcast is, it is
basically a radio show. In my
experience, they typically
consist of two or more hosts
discussing random topics that
all fit under one broad theme.
My all time favorite pod
cast, "The Sick and Wrong
Podcast," is a weekly compe
tition to find the most sick and
wrong news story in the
world. I've listened to this
podcast since its beginning in
2006 and over the years it has
covered everything from in
fanticide to cannibalism.
Needless to say, it is not for
the faint of heart.
If that's not your thing, no
worries! There is literally a
podcast out there for every
one. Want to learn Italian?
There's a podcast for that! Do
you like "World of Warcraft?"
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columns, editorials, and letters to the editor. Complaints regarding Beacon coverage of school
events should be directed to the editor at editorOpsu.edu.
they needed to use the bath
room is something that you
cannot live without.
MEL HOUGH
staff writer
Well ladies and gentlemen,
your voice has been heard,
and yet, surprisingly, it is still
not enough. It still isn't fast
enough (even though your
phone Google's things faster
than my laptop in my room),
it is so old (even though it
came out about a week ago),
or I don't like the color (...re
ally people?). The fact is that
there is always something that
could be better, and truth be
told, it will never happen...or
will it?
I read about this last year,
and completely forgot about it
until this past weekend when
a friend of mine showed me a
You Tube video about it. It is
called The Sixth Sense, and
has completely put to shame
everything that has ever been
created for our use. This new
piece of technology can do all
the things I have always
wished one single, portable,
light weight piece of metal
and plastic can do. It does so
much I cannot write it all out,
so you should see it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v= mzKmGTVmqJs&
feature=related
Go to youTube.com and
type in "Pranav Mistry (a'
TED; The Sixth Sense pt 1"
It lasts a total of about 15
minutes, but it is an unbeliev
able technological advance
ment that will, undoubtedly,
alter new technological ad
vancements forever.
But will THIS be enough?
There's a podcast for that!
Maybe you just get a kick
out of listening to everyday
people argue, drink, and dis
cuss current events. There's
more than one podcast for
that.
There are even podcasts for
astronomy lovers and people
who have questions that only
a ninja can answer. It is ab
solutely ridiculous that more
people don't listen to podcasts
and that they don't get more
publicity, especially because
podcasts are free. Subscribing
to a podcast takes as much
time and costs as much
money as following somebody
on Twitter or subscribing to
somebody on You Tube.
So I'm calling you out!
Go to iTunes, search
through the pages of pod
casts, and be entertained! If
you don't have iTunes, don't
fret! Make your way to
www.podcastalley.com or
podcast.com and enjoy.
There's a whole world of
free entertainment out there
and it's waiting for you to dis
cover it. So what are you wait
ing for?